


Gone To Rust

by ClockworkDinosaur (orphan_account)



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-23
Updated: 2016-03-29
Packaged: 2018-05-28 12:48:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6329839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/ClockworkDinosaur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Over two hundred years after the atomic bombs fell and wiped out a majority of the population, Steam Powered Giraffe still performs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nostalgic Night

Peter stood in the middle of the cracked street with his unmasked and scarred face turned to the green clouds. It was the first rain he'd come across in over two hundred years, and it was beautifully radioactive. He could feel the burning beneath his skin, reviving him, though he knew it would make the others in his party irreparably rusted.

Rabbit watched him from the cracked, but somehow mostly still functional window of the house they'd taken shelter in. It had been years since she'd seen Peter without his keyhole mask, and though she knew how Ghouls generally looked, she was still surprised by his appearance. The skin on his face was pocketed and scarred, and his nose gone, only a hole remained. When his eyes were opened, she could tell that they were a milky blue color, almost as if he were blind. His dirty blond hair was the same as it had been when he was human, although with more of a blue tint to it after years of working alone with Blue Matter, keeping the automaton band alive and working after two hundred years.

“Rabbit, it's rude to stare.” the baritone voice was quiet, but the tone was undeniably scolding her. The white-faced robot turned to face the speaker, just sorry enough to look chastised.

“Sorry, Sp-Sp-Spine.” she said, stepping away from the window. “I'm just worried a-a-bout him, standin' out there in the open like tha-at.”

The Spine made a noise that was almost a snort. “You know Peter can handle himself. And it's not like there are many raiders out today, with the weather like it is.”

“What about Nightstalkers? You d-d-don't know what's out there.” Rabbit argued.

“There are no Nightstalkers out here, Rabbs. We're much too far east now.”

Rabbit pouted. “Ya never know, Spine. M-maybe one's got our scent and has been tr-tracking us since Nevada.”

“Rabbit, you know that doesn't even make s-”

“I can hear you two bickering from downstairs!” a voice interrupted from down the hall. Heavy footfalls approached, followed by a bronze robot with an alarmingly orange mustache. He stood in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest and his eyebrow raised. The three automatons were quiet for a moment before Rabbit spoke, her tone sarcastic.

“D-d-did ya wanna join the bickering, or...?”

“We weren't _bickering_ , Hatchy. Rabbit was just checking on Peter.” The Spine said.

“Peter's gonna g-g-get eaten by Nightstalkers.” Rabbit said seriously.

“There are Nightstalkers all the way out here?” Hatchworth asked, looking at The Spine with alarm.

“No! I swear there are absolutely no Nightstalkers this far east.” The Spine pinched the bridge of his nose in an unnecessarily human gesture.

“Oh.” Hatchworth said, nodding. “In that case, then maybe there are no Deathclaws either?”

“Peter's gonna get e-eaten by Deathclaws.” Rabbit said seriously.

Hatchworth look mortified. The Spine sighed.

The past few months traveling on foot through the former United States had gone much the same way. It was nearly impossible to argue with either of the other automatons when they had an idea stuck in their heads, no matter how ridiculous. It had been the case for the over three hundred years since they'd been built, but traveling through hundreds of miles of hostile, irradiated land had made the arguments nearly unbearable.

Downstairs, the front door clicked closed. The three robots heard Peter sigh over the sound of the rain. He walked up the stairs, his masked face appearing before the rest of his lanky body. His hands were shoved in his tattered jean pockets, his shoulders slouched as he walked into the room casually, like he wasn't dripping rain that glowed faintly as it dripped into the wooden floor.

“Heya, Petes.” Rabbit said. “Did ya see any Nightstalkers out th-there?”

“I haven't seen any since... Nevada I think?” he said, confused. The Spine rolled his eyes.

“Don't worry about it, Peter. There are no Nightstalkers out here.” he said with finality.

“As far as you know.” Rabbit grumbled quietly, pouting as she crossed her arms.

“...Anyway! I'm going to change into some dry clothes.” Peter said, awkwardly leaving the room.

The robots were quiet, listening to the nostalgic sound of rain on the roof. It had been decades since they'd experienced rain, and it was enough to keep the robots in comfortable silence as they enjoyed the storm. Rabbit sprawled herself out on a dusty chair, relaxing as she stared out the window. The Spine sat on the bed, flipping through a barely-charred book he had found downstairs. Hatchworth laid on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, lost in thought. The next few hours passed quietly as the storm raged.

The silence was interrupted by the front door crashing open, ragged breathing loud over the rain. The robots bolted into action, The Spine taking the lead as his arm became a high-powered Tesla coil gun. Rabbit followed, the modified Green Matter ray in her eye glowing and ready. Hatchworth stayed upstairs, protecting the confused Peter with the laser pistol he'd pulled from his chest-hatch.

The pair of robots headed down the stairs carefully, alert to every sound. The ragged breathing had moved into the kitchen once they'd started down the stairs, and The Spine made his way toward the archway cautiously. With a quiet growl, Rabbit pushed past him, stomping into the kitchen with her fists raised and her ray ready to fire.

“No no no, wait!” a feminine voice said, giving Rabbit pause as The Spine stood next to her with a glare.

“Who're you?” Rabbit demanded. The Spine looked at the woman, her hands raised in fear, her light hair matted to her head as she stared up at the two automatons with light brown eyes.

“G7-81!” she said, her voice shaking. The Spine and Rabbit shot each other a look. The Spine lowered his weapon as Rabbit took a step forward, her hands reached out.

“Y-Your _name_ is G7-81?” she asked, her tone as calming as possible despite her confusion. The woman nodded.

“I-I was- I just-” she stuttered, her eyes darting around.

“It's okay, ma'am. If you need help, we would be glad to help you.” The Spine offered.

She looked at the robots for a long moment, before taking a deep, shuddering breath.

“I just escaped The Institute.”

 


	2. Gone, Gone, Gone

Rabbit and The Spine stared at the strange woman for a moment.

“Wh-What's The Institute?” Rabbit asked. G7-81 blinked.

“You don't know?” she asked, incredulous. Rabbit shook her head.

“We aren't from around here. We're traveling performers.” The Spine explained.

“Huh.” G7-81 said, tilting her head. “I actually kind of assumed you both were from The Institute, sent to bring me back.” she admitted. “But usually that's a Courser thing, so...” she shook her head. “The Institute is-” she started before The Spine cut her off.

“Just a moment, ma'am. Our brother Hatchworth and nephew Peter are upstairs, and I'd like for them to hear this.” he said, putting his weapons away and motioning for Rabbit to do the same. G7 nodded as she stood. She was taller than the bots had expected, almost reaching Rabbit's six-foot-one height.

“My name is The Spine, and this is Rabbit, by the way.” he said. Rabbit waved.

The Spine led them upstairs, and Hatchworth's eyes narrowed, standing in front of Peter protectively as Peter watched the robots lead the intruder up the stairs.

“She's not hostile.” The Spine assured him. Peter stood behind Hatchworth, his head tilted. “She's running away from some institute-”

“Not just _some institute._ ” she interjected. “ _The_ Institute. They build synths- robots, I guess, but not like you- and send them out into the commonwealth to replace real, flesh-and-blood people.” she said. “I... I think I was next. Or close to next. I'm a synth. Then some contact for this group called the Railroad got me out. And I was supposed to be transported to some place called Goodneighbor... But we were attacked by a Courser- um, an elite synth. And- and I ran.” Her hands shook as she explained. The robots and Peter went into the room where they had set up camp. Peter lit a lantern and G7 sat on the bed, looking at the expectant robots and the unreadable masked man. It was quiet for a moment.

“So you're a robot?” Peter blurted suddenly, unable to help himself. “You look just like a human!”

G7 blinked at the masked man. “Yes I am.” she confirmed, caught off guard by Peter's excited curiosity. “The Institute is very good at what it does. Unfortunately.” she said bitterly.

The Spine put his hand on G7's shoulder tentatively. “Do you know what you need to do next?” he asked.

Rabbit raised her hand. “I have s-some questions.” she said, bouncing a bit.

“Don't overwhelm her.” The Spine said.

“I don't have many answers.” G7 admitted. “I just know that I was supposed to get to Goodneighbor for something.” she shrugged miserably.

“Well, we would be happy to get you there.” Hatchworth offered. “Maybe there's a place we could perform too!”

“I don't know a thing about Goodneighbor, let alone how to get there. We were only supposed to pass through here, we're heading south.” Peter said. “But... we could help you.” Peter said.

“Of course we're going to help her.” The Spine nodded. “It wouldn't be too hard to get directions, right?”

“Of course it w-w-won't be hard! We're three ro-robots, a Ghoul, and a runaway. Who wouldn't be happy t-to help us!” Rabbit said, her voice dripping with false enthusiasm.

The Spine ignored Rabbit's sarcasm and looked at G7 seriously. “You can protect yourself, right?” the synth nodded hesitantly.

“If I have a weapon, yes. I was given weapons training.” she said.

The Spine looked at Hatchworth, who nodded, opening up his chest cavity and rummaging around. G7 stared with eyebrows raised as the robot pulled several guns, some larger than the cavity that they came out of, and a sandwich out of his own chest. Hatchworth laid the weapons on the floor and tossed the sandwich at Peter, looking at G7 proudly.

“Take your pick, and there's more where that came from!”

She grinned. “You're a walking armory, huh?” Hatchworth nodded, returning her grin widely. The synth looked over the weapons with wide eyes. Her fingers trailed over the barrel of the largest one, a minigun.

“That one's heavy.” The Spine warned as she picked it up effortlessly.

“I want this one.” G7 said, eyes alight.

“Well. That's settled then.” Peter said as Hatchworth began gathering up the weapons and storing them away. “But we aren't going anywhere tonight, so you can put that away. I think we should get some rest. Seems we're going to be traveling a bit out of our way tomorrow.”

The robots nodded in agreement.

“Ah, G7... I don't know if you need sleep, but there's another bedroom down the hall, you can take the spare sleeping bag over there.” Peter said. “I'll be in here, and the bots are going to power down in shifts, to keep watch so we're safe.”

G7 nodded, and with a wave, bid everyone goodnight.

Peter turned to the bots, his fingers tapping on his wooden mask as he thought. “If there's an institute that's building hyper-advanced, almost completely human robots, I want in.” he said.

“But if it was bad enough for G7 to run away from, maybe it's not a group you'd want to be associated with.” The Spine pointed out.  
Peter continued tapping, lost in thought.

“I'll take first watch.” The Spine sighed after a moment. The other bots nodded and Peter didn't acknowledge him as The Spine left the room, taking up sentry in the hallway as the storm outside began dying down.

 

The next morning, the five quickly prepared to leave, each of them wearing armor and keeping their weapons visible to deter any raiders. Peter went over the map he'd bought, looking for any place called Goodneighbor, to no avail.

“Looks kinda t-t-tattered anyway, Petes. Probably not the highest-quality map ya coulda b-bought.” Rabbit pointed out, looking over Peter's shoulder.

“Yeah, well. This blasted thing cost me thirty caps, you would think it would be better.” he grumbled.

“They guy you bought it from was obviously on a lot of chems, Petes. I'm surprised he didn't charge you eighty caps for a map of Canada trying to pass it off as a Commonwealth map.” Hatchworth chimed in.

“He's g-got a point.” Rabbit said.

Peter continued to grumble under his breath as the bots did one last sweep of the house, looking for any valuables or things they might have left. G7 watched Peter plan their route, occasionally growling under his breath and backtracking. The synth cleared her throat.

“So, um... I hope you don't mind me asking but... why do you wear that mask?” she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

“I'm a ghoul. All of the skin was burnt off my face and I don't like looking at myself.” Peter said casually, without looking up. G7 had only heard the barest details about ghouls, and tilted her head.

“But you obviously are... sentient. I thought ghouls were mindless and murderous.”

Peter sighed. “Nope. I'm one of the lucky ones. All the scars and skinlessness of being a monster without the absence of mind not to care.” he shrugged. “I am pretty close to immortal though, so at least I have that going for me.”

G7 was quiet. “I'm sorry.” she managed, shifting her weight and not looking at Peter.

Peter shrugged again, looking up from the map. “It's not all bad, despite my bitterness. I'm the only one who can keep the automatons running, and I have been for over two hundred years now. They're the only family I've got left, in a way. If I hadn't won the radioactive ghoulification lottery, they'd be rusted on the floor of a broken-down manor by now.”

The three bots came back into the room a second later, The Spine with a miraculously unburned book and Hatchworth with an old, tattered teddy bear. He tossed the toy in his chest hatch happily and looked at G7 with a wide smile.

“That my four hundredth bear.” he told her proudly. G7 laughed.

Are we g-g-gonna go soon, or what?” Rabbit huffed. She hadn't found anything worthwhile and was obviously displeased.

“From here, we should head east. There's a city labeled on here at least, Diamond City. We'll head there, ask for directions to Goodneighbor.” Peter looked at G7, tapping his mask in thought. “I think it would be best if people didn't know you're a runaway synth.” he said. G7 nodded.

“You're probably right.” she agreed.

“You're a... mercenary. We hired you for safety. That's our story, stick to it. _If_ we're asked.” he gave the three automatons a hard look. They nodded seriously. Peter folded up the ragged map and put it away. With one last look around the room, the group made their way outside, the sun just beginning to rise over the trees as they began walking.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still trying to keep the chapter titles names relayed to the song, which is surprisingly harder than expected!


	3. The Radio Plays a Crackling Song

The strange group had been walking quietly for half an hour over nearly-empty and very cracked roads before Rabbit began humming. G7 looked at her, intrigued, as the the other two musical bots joined in.

_“I don't want to set the world on fire...”_ The Spine sang after a moment of humming, his deep voice carrying the notes flawlessly. G7 didn't recognize the song, but it seemed almost sad. She listened to the three bots harmonize as they walked with rapt attention.

_“I've lost all ambition for worldy acclaim, I just want to be the one you love...”_ The automatons seemed to be having fun showing off their musical skills for G7, and looked at her periodically as they sang.

_“...I just want to start a flame in your heart.”_ Rabbit finished the song on her own, then stopped and took a quick bow, her pink hair and the wires that protruded from her head nearly touching the pavement before she bounced back up, beaming at G7. The synth clapped enthusiastically.

“Maybe next time, pick a more upbeat traveling song.” Peter said.

Rabbit pouted at him for a second, before beginning to belt out another song.

_“Got a doll baby, I love her so! Nothin' else like her-”_

“Ugh, not that one! No more singing for another hour.” Peter said.

“But _Peter_ -”

“Wanna make it two hours?” he warned. Rabbit glared at the ground, her heavy boots stomping harder than necessary, but she said nothing.

G7 laughed. “Is it always like this when you're traveling?” she asked.

“Yes.” The Spine and Peter replied in unison, with nearly identical tones of exasperation.

“Yeah, Petes and Spine are al-al- _always_ boring.” Rabbit said, rolling her eyes. Hatchworth only shrugged, not taking either side.

It was quiet again for a while, apart from the several times when Rabbit began humming and Peter had to remind her that the hour wasn't over yet. They passed by very few people until they approached the city. Even Rabbit seemed to get serious as the distant sounds of gunfire popped, echoing through the dilapidated buildings. Another group, followed by a pack brahmin, passed them warily, watching the three automatons with distrust. The bots kept their eyes forward, not making eye contact with the traders as they entered the city.

“I think this is the way to Diamond City.” Peter muttered, pointing down the road.

“You _think_?” Rabbit asked.

“I am pretty much almost completely sure.” Peter assured her.

“G-great.” she sighed.

Before they walked much further, The Spine held up his hand, squinting off into the distance.

“There are raiders up there.” he whispered.

Rabbit's face broke out into a wicked grin as she balled her fists and began moving forward. The silver robot put his hand on her shoulder to stop her.

“We can easily sneak around them!” he scolded. Rabbit blinked at him.

“Wh-why? We can take 'em!” she said, nearly buzzing with excitement.

“But we don't need to.”

Rabbit seemed to debate for a second before jerking her shoulder out of The Spine's grip. Before anyone could stop her, she loudly kicked a metal trashcan lid, sending it crashing down the street. In the distance, someone began shouting. She smiled sweetly at The Spine.

“Well, n- _now_ we need to! G7, st-stay with Petes!” She turned and began running to the raider's barricade, and G7 could swear that she was humming. The synth watched the other two robots take action, and Peter ducked behind cover, shooting when necessary as the raiders came out to meet the robots. G7 watched from behind a corner as the automatons cut down raiders with ease.

Rabbit was quick on her feet, dodging blows and bullets with ease, delivering devastating punches to the raiders as they tried to bring her down. One managed to sneak up behind her, but before he could hit her with his wicked-looking wrench, The Spine shot him with an old-fashioned revolver. The Spine's accuracy was deadly as he brought down raiders with one or two bullets, occasionally kicking at raiders that got too close. Hatchworth seemed to be looking for those that stayed on the outskirts, occasionally tossing grenades at raiders that were a safe distance from himself and his siblings. Others, he dealt with using a short double-barreled shotgun.

Before long, the sounds of fighting stopped, and the three automatons stood alone. Peter and G7 walked up to them, doing their best to avoid the spilled blood.

The Spine was glaring at Rabbit, who looked smug.

“These people didn't need to die, Rabbit.” he said, his tone almost sad.

“If it wasn't us th-th-they were attacking, it woulda been some poor defenseless traders. We d-d-did everyone a favor, Spine.” she responded.

“We can't go around playing vigilante. We need to avoid conflict wherever possible.”

“This isn't twenty-fifteen anymore. Things aren't l-l-like they used to be. This is war, and that's never gonna change. Either we f-f-fight or people get killed.” Rabbit said, her voice low and dangerous.

“You think I don't know that? I've been here just as long as you have, I know how things are. But that doesn’t mean we get to be the judge, jury, and executioner for every gang in the country.”

The two robots stared each other down, clearly at an impasse. Hatchworth stood between them and cleared his throat.

“Listen, there's nothing we can do now except get to Diamond City.” he said. “These raiders did technically attack first, we acted in self-defense.”

The Spine shook his head and took the lead, walking through the now-empty raider barricade and further into the bombed city.

 

The signs became more common as they neared the tall structures, surrounded by high walls. Arrows pointed them in the right direction of Diamond City, and they soon found themselves at its front gate. As they approached, they heard the unmistakable click of a gun being readied, and found themselves in the cross-hairs of at least three automatic weapons.

“Stop right there.” an authoritative voice called.

G7's breath caught in her throat as she paled, thoughts rushing through her head in a panic. Then she realized that the guns weren't trained on her. She glanced over at the automatons, and three pairs of wide photoreceptors staring directly down the gun barrels, ready to fire.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The songs mentioned in this chapter are "I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire" by The Ink Spots and "Atom Bomb Baby" by The Five Stars.


	4. Vanishes

Peter spoke first.

“These aren't hostile robots!” he called.

“Doesn't matter. No robots, no synths, no automatons. No ghouls either.” the security guard sneered as he heard Peter's raspy voice. “Turn and leave before we open fire.”

G7, willing her voice not to shake, spoke up. “Which way to Goodneighbor?” she called. Peter looked at her sharply.

The guard was quiet for a moment, before gesturing east. “That way, just over a mile or two.” he said. “Now go.”

Carefully, the group backed away from the gates of Diamond City, going through several alleyways to avoid any more Diamond City security.

After they'd put some distance between them, Peter let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding. “That was too close.” he grumbled.

“Some cities are just awful.” Hatchworth sighed.

“They didn't want to let you in because you're a ghoul?” G7 asked, confused.

Peter nodded. “It's not the only city that's like that though.” he shrugged, his head down with dejection.

“It st-still isn't fair.” Rabbit said softly, gently placing her hand on Peter's shoulder. “Goodneighbor has to be better than st-stupid Diamond City.” she said.

“You're right. Anything's better than that scrapheap of a city.” Hatchworth agreed.

Peter looked at the bots and nodded. “You're probably right. Let's pick up the pace to get there sooner, hm?” With that, he threw back his shoulders and the group walked on, glad to be on their way to Goodneighbor.

G7 didn't know what waited for her there. Excitement and nervousness warred inside of her. Ever since she left The Institute, everything had been new, her future unplanned, nobody to tell her what do do or where to be at every given second. The freedom thrilled and terrified her. She wasn't sure what made her trust the three robots and the masked ghoul in the first place, aside from desperation, but she was glad she did. Her instincts, as untested as they were, seemed to be helping her.

The Spine looked over at G7, who seemed completely lost in thought. He stood next to her, and did a robotic approximation of clearing his throat.

“Is everything okay? You seem distracted,” he said.

She nodded. “Everything's fine. I guess it's just... I mean, of course they tell you a bit about the world outside The Institute... But none of the good things. Just that everything is violent and dirty and everyone wants to kill each other all the time. But... That's not completely true. I mean, sure... there's violence. But there _are_ good people. You and the other robots and Peter. The person who tried to get me to Goodneighbor first.” she shrugged.

The Spine nodded. “We've been around for centuries now. There is absolutely good in the world. I guess even the apocalypse couldn't wipe that out.”

“If you know where to look, you can find some of the best people out here.” Hatchworth added.

“You just need to be c-c-careful.” Rabbit added. G7 nodded.

“I know. I think I can take care of myself though.” she said, shrugging the shoulder straps of the minigun on her back higher.

“I don't doubt it.” The Spine nodded.

“Hey look.” Peter said, pointing ahead at a glowing neon sign, down a dingy alleyway. “We're here.”

 

Goodneighbor was in better condition than some places in the wasteland, with several organized storefronts as soon as they walked in. Several residents, some ghoul and some human, watched the strange group enter, curious glances given to the archaic automatons but no comments made.

They didn't know what to expect when they walked into Goodneighbor's town square, but being greeted by a ghoul in clothes from the Revolutionary War was still highly unexpected.

“I had heard whispers about a group of old-fashioned robots headed this way, but I didn't believe it.” the ghoul said, the grin on his scarred face joyful as he studied each automaton. “Welcome to Goodneighbor. Call me Hancock, I'm the mayor of this fair little burg.” he said with a nod.

“I'm Peter Walter the sixth.” Peter said, walking forward to shake the other ghoul's hand.

“A nice name, no wonder they used it six times.” Hancock remarked. Peter chuckled awkwardly.

“And, uh, this is The Spine, Rabbit, and Hatchworth.” he said, gesturing to each bot in turn.

“Are you a p-p-pirate?” Rabbit blurted.

“Maybe he's related to Captain Albert Alexander!” Hatchworth whispered to her. Rabbit's eyes widened with excitement.

“Ignore them, it's a pleasure to meet you, sir.” The Spine said with a nod, lightly touching the brim of his tattered black fedora.

The ghoul looked amused. “Pleasure's all mine. Now, what's your business here in Goodneighbor? I can give you some directions if you need it, direct you to any fine establishment in town.” he offered.

Peter paused. “Well... Our friend here needs help.” he said carefully, tilting his head at G7. She waved awkwardly.

Hancock looked her up and down. “I think you should take a detour to the Memory Den. Ask for Doctor Amari.” he gave her a knowing nod.

“And, though it may not seem so, the automatons are actually musicians. Maybe there's somewhere they could perform? We need the caps.” Peter explained.

Hancock nodded. “Yeah, the Third Rail. Y'know what? I'm sure Magnolia won't mind sharing the stage tomorrow night. Feel free to stay in the Hotel Rexford. The best and only hotel in Goodneighbor. Pretty good rates. Come on by The Third Rail tomorrow evening and we'll see about putting you on.”

With another shake of Peter's hand, Hancock turned and left the group in the town center.

“That's the Memory Den over there.” The Spine said a monent later, gesturing to a building across the street, a large neon sign advertising its name. G7 swallowed as she started walking toward the building. She stood outside the doors for a moment, looking back at Peter and the three robots. Wordlessly, Rabbit ran up and hugged her, much to the synth's surprise.

“I don't know what's going to happen next, but thank you for getting me this far. All of you.” G7 grinned. “Maybe I'll see you all around.” She waved at her traveling companions one last time and went through the doors.

Peter let out a deep breath. “I really hope everything works out for her.” he said sincerely.

“I think she'll be fine, she seems smart enough to get by, she'll be able to take care of herself.” The Spine said reassuringly.

Peter nodded. “Now let's head over to the hotel. It's close enough to evening to relax, and we'll talk to Hancock tomorrow.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: pretty much all of my favorite characters in Fallout 4 can be found in Goodneighbor.


	5. In The Winter Cold She Kisses

The next day was spent in anticipation for their concert in the Third Rail. Though their electric instruments had fallen apart years ago, The Spine still had his acoustic guitar, which he traded off with Hatchworth on occasion, and Rabbit had her nearly-broken accordion and her tambourine. Hatchworth pulled the instruments out of his chest carefully, almost reverently. None of them wanted to have them exposed to the air for too long, worried about how the environment would affect the antique instruments.

The Spine gently strummed the guitar, a smile playing on the edge of his lips as he plucked out a familiar tune.

“ _Everybody's goin' to the clockwork vaudeville..._ ” Rabbit sang as she carefully cleaned her precious accordion and Hatchworth shook the tambourine.

“Don't practice too loudly.” Peter warned. “I paid for two nights but I feel like they'd kick us out with no refund anyway if we're disruptive.”

Rabbit gave an exaggerated groan. “Petes, why d-d-do ya always ruin the fun?” she whined. “We weren't even _bein'_ l-loud!”

“We'll practice quietly.” The Spine said. Hatchworth shook the tambourine quieter and Rabbit rolled her eyes.

“We gonna rehearse, or wh-wh-what?” she said.

 

The Third Rail was a dark bar in a former subway station, manned by a coarse Mister Handy robot with a cockney accent and a bowler hat. The robots walked through the front doors and were waved in by a ghoul in a tuxedo. A woman stood on stage, her tight red dress glittering under the bright lights as she sang. Her voice was low and seductive as she purred into the old-fashioned microphone.

“ _You leave me breathless, weak in the knees. I'm feelin' reckless, pardon me please..._ ” she sang.

Rabbit suddenly found herself in love. The Spine raised an eyebrow, grinning at the lovestruck robot as she watched the singer, entranced.

“You should tell your sister to get her jaw off the ground.” a familiar voice said from behind The Spine. He spun around quickly, his eyes widening when he saw G7 standing behind him with her hands on her hips and a playful expression.

“G7!” Hatchworth said, delighted. The synth smiled widely.

“I have a real name now.” she said. “My name is Glory.”

“Glory.” The Spine repeated. “A lovely name.” he elbowed Rabbit, breaking her out of her lovestruck haze. She blinked at G7 and gasped, her face breaking into a smile.

“I th-th-thought you woulda been sent somewhere with that Rail-” Glory shushed her quickly.

“It's a long story... And I'm not sure how much I can explain.” she said apologetically. “I'm leaving within the next few hours, but I wouldn't miss seeing you guys perform for anything.”

The singer finished her song with flourish, and made her way off stage. Rabbit squeaked quietly as she approached the automaton band.

“So _you're_ the guest stars for the night.” she purred.

“I'm Rabbit.” Rabbit blurted, steam erupting from her cheeks in embarrassment.

“Magnolia. A pleasure to meet you, miss Rabbit.”

“I'm The Spine, and this is Hatchworth. It's an honor to perform on your stage, ma'am.” The Spine said cordially.

She laughed. “If anything, it's Hancock's stage, not mine. But I appreciate the statement.”

“Y-y-you have a lovely voice.” Rabbit said, flustered.

“Thank you, doll.” Magnolia smiled.

“We better get ready, we'll talk to you after our set.” The Spine said, pulling Rabbit by the arm toward the stage.

“Spine... She's r-r-really pretty.” Rabbit whispered, awe-struck. The Spine raised his eyebrow, nodding.

“I agree, but that doesn't mean you need to make yourself look like a fool in front of her.” he teased.

“I know we h-h-haven't done this one in a wh-while, but I really wanna do that one song.” Rabbit continued, ignoring The Spine. She hummed a bit of it, and The Spine rolled his eyes.

“Of course you do.” he shook his head, smiling. “Well, I'm sure Hatchy will be up for it. We'll take out Honeybee and put that in, okay?” Rabbit nodded enthusiastically.

“I hope she'll be watch-watch-watching!”

“I'm sure she will be, Rabbs.”

 

The bar had a good number of patrons when the robot band took to the stage. Some watched in mild curiosity, while others were so deep in their drinks they didn't even notice the strange robots. Glory waved from a table near the front, and Hancock nodded languidly as he lounged on a couch, clearly riding some kind of high. Rabbit scanned the crowd quickly, looking for Magnolia. She spotted her in the far back, leaning against the wall. She made eye contact and smiled. Rabbit's core went warm with excitement.

After their short intro, they went into their first song, and through the crowds and instruments and venues had changed over their over three hundred years of performances, their own excitement never faded.

“ _Ever since the first time I opened my eyes, I've awakened to the same thing..._ ” they started, The Spine plucking on his guitar as the three automatons sang in harmony. They always started with a slower song, then picked things up as the set went on.

By their third song, the bar was clapping after every song, thoroughly entertained by the robot band. Rabbit looked at The Spine and Hatchworth, who nodded. She stepped in front of them as they began playing.

_“I only saw her once, but that was all I needed...”_

 

Their performance ended with slightly drunken applause, the robots waving as they got offstage and headed for a table near the entrance while Peter got their caps from Hancock. Glory quickly said her goodbyes, barely stopping at the table on her way out.

“You guys are awesome, I hope I'll get a chance to see you again soon.” she said, grinning widely at the bots before waving and heading up the stairs.

A few minutes later, Rabbit stood, tapping her fingers against the wooden table with nervousness as she looked toward the back wall.

“I'll b-b-be right back.” she said, then walked over to the woman in the red dress.

The Spine and Hatchworth watched her go with amusement.

“You think they'll end up... _together_?” Hatchworth said, nudging The Spine with his elbow.

“Don't make me think about that.” The Spine groaned.

Peter sat down across across from the two robots a moment later, setting a bag on the table.

“Five hundred caps. A hundred and twenty five for each of us, technically.” he said, pleased.

“That's great! I'm gonna buy...” Hatchworth trailed off, thinking.

“We're going to save it.” The Spine jumped in.

“I'm gonna buy a puppy.” Hatchworth concluded. The Spine rolled his eyes as Peter shrugged.

“Yeah, sure. If we find someone selling puppies, you can buy one.” Peter said. Hatchworth beamed. The Spine gave Peter an incredulous look, but said nothing.

The minutes passed in contented quiet as a few people in the bar talked to the bots at the table, congratulating them on their great show. The bar emptied as the night went on, and after the bar was empty of nearly everyone aside from the most hard-core chem addicts and drunks, Peter stood.

“Let's get Rabbit and head to the hotel. We're gonna leave pretty early tomorrow and head south.” the masked ghoul said. The bots nodded and looked to the back wall where Rabbit had been talking to Magnolia for the past few hours. The Spine groaned when he saw Rabbit and the singer locked in a deep kiss.

“I'm not breaking that up.” he said with finality, turning and heading up the stairs before anyone could stop him. Hatchworth looked at Peter with his eyes wide behind his glasses. Peter sighed.

“Rabbit!” he yelled across the room. Rabbit jumped eyes wide as she turned to see who called her name. She shrugged at Peter, said her goodbyes to Magnolia with a kiss and a few whispered promises, and left the bar with the others.

 

The next morning, they set out as the sun began rising, leaving Goodneighbor before anyone aside from the neighborhood watch was awake. It was quiet as they left the town behind, heading back out on the cracked and broken roads.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually had no idea how to end this fic, I went into writing this with no plan whatsoever. Despite that, I hope it was enjoyable to read!

**Author's Note:**

> It was only a matter of time before I made an SPG/Fallout crossover, honestly. This one will probably (hopefully) be shorter than my other crossover fic though!  
> And of course, the inspiration for the fic and chapter titles come from my favorite Steam Powered Giraffe song:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN4aFwGy2ck  
> (I wonder if I can make every chapter title related to that song...)


End file.
